Cicada Press is a New York City based publishing imprint founded in 2013 by Matthew Whitley and Anastasiya Osipova. Cicada is an artists run press, dedicated to poetic texts, art projects and works of non-fiction by artists and writers situated in the radical left. The poetry of the slogan. The lyricism of the banner.

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Upcoming Release: Ukraine/Russia “Maidan” Broadsheet, The Circling of the Squares

A fitting mural for the times, “Koliyivshchyna” by Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Kuznetsov.

We are in the process of translating and laying out writing, artwork, and statements from the radical left wing of Ukrainian and Russian cultural workers in response to the events of “the Maidan” and the political theater surrounding the invasion of Crimea. The publication will be in broadsheet or newspaper format, double facing, in both English and Russian translation, intended to be distributed at little or no cost.

The contributors thus far:

Serhiy Zhadan, Ukrainian poet and anarchist, beaten for his organization and support of the occupation in the Eastern city of Kharkiv.

Larissa Babij, translator, writer and curator living in Kiev. She has worked with fellow contributors, the performance group TanzLaboratorium, and is a member of the Art Workers’ Self-Defense Initiative.

TanzLaboratorium,a Ukrainian independent performance group that works with time in given, randomly found, or consciously chosen spaces.

Larisa Venediktova, a performer, dancer, director, and curator currently working with the group TanzLaboratorium.

Alexandr Volodarskii, who was previously sent to a labor camp as retribution for a public “obscene” performance protesting Ukrainian censorship laws. He has just released a book in Russian about his time there with a violent humor.

Mariana Matveichuk, participant of Maidan, coordinator of the School for Visual Communication and staff member of the Les’ Kurbas Center.

Nikita Kadan, artist and member of REP, Hudrada, and the Art Workers’ Self-Defense Initiative.

Anna Zvyagintseva, artist and member of Hudrada and the Art Workers’ Self-Defense Initiative.

Volodymyr Kuznetsov, Ukrainian artist and member of REP, who was recently censored at the nationalist tinged “Great and Grand” exhibition at the Kiev Arsenale.

The Autonomous Workers Union of Kiev, an anarchist organization that has released numerous statements on the uprising and ensuing crisis.

The Assembly for Culture in Ukraine, (also translated as Assembly for Art Workers in Ukraine or Assembly of Cultural Workers) who have released a call for art workers internationally to boycott art world events supported and hosted by the Russian state.

Petr Pavlensky, Russian performance artist who recently was arrested for “petty hooliganism” with other artists and activists after a public performance of solidarity with the uprising in Maidan on the eve of Russian intervention.

Chto Delat, a Russian collective of artists, writers, critics, and philosophers founded in 2003 with the goal of merging political theory, art, and activism. They have recently released a statement withdrawing from, and advocating the boycott of, Manifesta 10 in Saint Petersburg.

MarinaSimakova, a writer, critic, and a connoisseur of the twentieth-century literature. Lives in Moscow.

David Chickan, an artist and a member of the anarchist Autonomous Workers Union. Lives and works in Kiev.

And a final special thanks to all the translators who have produced original translations of many texts new and old with incredible speed: